Anemas prison

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Outline sketch of the Anemas prison by Alexander van Millingen

The Prison of Anemas is a large Byzantine building connected to the Theodosian city walls of the city of Constantinople (today's Istanbul ). It is traditionally identified with the prison in which the first prisoner was Michael Anemas , a Byzantine general who had unsuccessfully revolted against Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (1081–1118). The prison was later named after this first inmate in Byzantine sources. The building became particularly famous in the last centuries of the Byzantine Empire when four emperors were imprisoned there.

description

The so-called Tower of Isaac Angelos with its characteristic irregular masonry with the reused stone pillars

The building was located in the suburb of Blachernae between the wall sections erected around the middle of the 11th century by Emperor Manuel I Komnenos (1143–1180), the older ones by Emperor Herakleios (reigned 610–641) and those of Leo V the Armenian (813 -820). A short section of the wall connects the complex to the east with Manuel Komnenos' wall. The outer wall itself is extraordinarily high, it rises up to 23 meters above the ground in front of it and is between eleven and 20 meters thick. Behind the outer curtain wall , the building consists of twelve three-story chambers. The outer facade is flanked by two rectangular towers, built side by side, with a common wall. The twin towers are in turn supported by a massive strut that rises almost eight meters above ground level and protrudes between 6.5 and nine meters in front of the towers themselves.

Despite their proximity to one another, the towers differ significantly in their construction, a fact that also affects the parapet and points to different times of construction. The south tower is an irregular, square, two-story structure. Its masonry is very uneven; it contains many stone pillars, often not fully inserted, and its supporting pillar consists of irregularly fitted stones. Its internal structure with the spacious upper floor, its large windows and the balcony facing west suggests that it can be used as a residential tower . Combined, these factors support the usual equation with the " Tower of Isaac Angelos ": According to the historian Niketas Choniates , the tower was built by Emperor Isaac II Angelos (1185–1195, 1203–1204) both as a reinforcement and as a private residence this used the material of derelict churches. In contrast to this is the north tower, which is regarded as the " Tower of Anemas "; a carefully executed construction and excellent example of the typical Byzantine use of alternating layers of natural stone and adobe bricks. Its strut is made up of large, regular, carefully adjusted blocks. The strength of the walls and struts can be explained by the fact that this element formed the westernmost retaining wall of the wide, terraced hill on which the late Byzantine Blachernen Palace was built.

Interior view of the domed prison cells of Anemas in a 19th century illustration

The main structure consists of thirteen transverse strut walls pierced by three overlapping bricks - buttresses that define twelve compartments, each nine to 13 meters wide. The two longitudinal walls are not parallel, but steadily diverge towards the north. The eastern wall is equipped with a pair of corridors on the upper two floors, built inside the wall and illuminated by loopholes in the facade. The cellar compartments have no windows, but the upper floors are illuminated through a few small openings in the west wall. A spiral staircase connects the main structure with the two towers.

Inconsistency in the positioning of the windows, partially covered by later additions, as well as other indications of a successive redesign, show that the building was converted in different phases. The eastern, directed towards the town walls came first, as a simple defensive wall with galleries from which projectiles through the loopholes could be fired through it. The rest of the main complex was added later, possibly as a reinforced cladding for the palace hill. The role of the subdivisions is unclear; the compartments were recognized as prison cells, which transferred the designation “Anemas prison” to the entire construction, but such hypotheses cannot be convincingly tested. It is also possible that the chambers served as storage rooms, or (at least on the upper two floors) as barracks, especially since the complex was part of the defense works.

The towers were probably built last, the southern one is younger than the northern one, as it divides a wall that clearly belongs to the older one. This, however, falsifies the interpretation, respectively, as the towers of Anemas and Isaac Angelos, since the former was recorded as existing in the first years of the 12th century, more than 70 years before the construction of the "Tower of Isaac Angelos". Various theories have been put forward to clarify this. One of them says that the traditional assignment is wrong, another that both names refer to the same building. Another suggests that the "Tower of Anemas" should be classified further north, as part of the wall of Herakleios. All of these bring new problems, and the old opinion is still the most widely used today.

Inmates

After Anna Komnena ( Alexias 12: 6-7) Michael Anemas was the first man imprisoned there, and the prison and the tower were named after him. Michael had conspired against Anna's father, Emperor Alexios I , but the plot was discovered; he was captured with his co-conspirators and sentenced to imprisonment and blinding , the usual punishment for traitors. His plea for mercy, however, when he was brought up the Mese, the main street of Constantinople, earned him the sympathy of the people and Anna Komnenas herself. Together with her mother, she interceded for him at Alexios'. He escaped the glare, but was arrested for several years in the tower that would later bear his name. The next prisoner arrived even before Michael was finally forgiven and released. It was Gregorios Taronites , the Dux of Chaldia , the region around Trebizond . Taking advantage of the relative isolation of his province, he had tried in 1104 to rule as a sovereign ruler. Even after his arrest, according to Alexias , he remained defiant, which resulted in a long period of incarceration before he was finally released.

The next inmate was the deposed emperor Andronikos I Komnenos (1183–1185), who was held there on the eve of his execution in the hippodrome of Constantinople . This happened on September 12, 1185.

The next prisoner known by name was Johannes Bekkos , at that time the Chartophylax of Hagia Sophia and future Patriarch of Constantinople as John XI, who because of his attitude against the reunification of the Orthodox and the Roman proposed by Emperor Michael VIII. Palaiologos (ruled 1259-1282) Catholic churches was imprisoned.

Around 1322 Syrgiannes Palaiologos , who in the course of the civil war both with and against Andronikos II. Palaiologos (1282-1328) and his grandson and opponent Andronikos III. (1328–1341) had conspired, taken into custody in the prison of Anemas, although under rather pleasant conditions, until he was rehabilitated around 1328 and confirmed in his old offices.

The prison was once again in use while dynastic conflicts within the family of Palaiologoi during the 1370s. Emperor Johannes V. Palaiologos (1341–1376, 1379–1391) put his eldest son, Andronikos IV , behind bars after a failed revolt. Andronikos fled, however, and with Genoese and Ottoman support he succeeded in usurping his father's throne for three years (1376-1379) . During this time, John V and his younger sons, Manuel - who later became Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos (1391-1425) - and Theodor were held in the prison of Anemas.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. van Millingen; P. 131.
  2. van Millingen; Pp. 131-132
  3. a b van Millingen; Pp. 132-133
  4. van Millingen; P. 132
  5. van Millingen; Pp. 143-145
  6. van Millingen; P. 138
  7. van Millingen; P. 134
  8. van Millingen; Pp. 134-135
  9. van Millingen; Pp. 136-138
  10. van Millingen; Pp. 139-140
  11. van Millingen; Pp. 140-142
  12. van Millingen; P. 141
  13. van Millingen; Pp. 146-149
  14. van Millingen; Pp. 149-153
  15. Turnbull; Pp. 31, 60
  16. van Millingen; P. 154
  17. van Millingen; Pp. 155-156
  18. Kazhdan; S. 2013
  19. van Millingen; P. 156
  20. van Millingen; Pp. 156-157
  21. van Millingen; Pp. 157-160
  22. van Millingen; P. 161
  23. van Millingen; Pp. 162-163

Coordinates: 41 ° 2 ′ 18.5 ″  N , 28 ° 56 ′ 27 ″  E